According to Urban DictionarySplicky means ‘Cool or smooth’ and in keeping with this definition, the Demand-side Platform is attempting to revamp mobile marketing.

The Splicky headquarters are in Austin, Texas, but the company also has two major service partners in Berlin:Jaduda GmbH and Mobile Space Ltd.

Target driven campaigns

Splicky offers users multiple mobile inventory sources from just one platform and promises to only target impressions that drive campaigns while simultaneously managing budgets. Splicky places bids on impressions based on your preferences and the results of their algorithm.

Splicky’s Sven Ruppert spoke to WebMagazin about how the company was founded and their plans for the future.

Splicky Interview

WM: Tell us a little bit about Splicky how does it work?

SR: Splicky is a Self-Service-platform for mobile Real-Time Advertising. The technology makes it very simple to bid on mobile ad impressions using one single interface. It enables you to optimize your mobile campaigns by a broad variety of targeting criteria including location, time, operating system, language or even one specific mobile device. All mobile sites and apps are completely visible at all times and you can decide which ones you want to address by the help of black- and whitelists depending on the performance or branding focus of your campaign. Concerning formats, the platform supports not only traditional display ads but also Mobile Video as well as native ad formats. In order to provide its advertisers with quality inventory and global reach, Splicky is integrated with a growing number of sources such as the sell-side-platforms Rubicon Project, OpenX, MoPub, Smaato, Nexage and, of course, Google.

WM: What would you say makes Splicky a special startup? How do you stand out in the Berlin tech scene?

SR: One of our core beliefs is that the market needs more transparency. The days of black box marketing models are not over yet but they are clearly numbered. We are happy with our decision to build our own proprietary technology as this gives our clients and us complete control and insights about our part in the ad trading process. We are able to respond to our clients’ requests as they come up immediately and develop new features as they are needed.

To the founding team it is important that we have a great spirit within our international team as well as a trustful relationship with our partners and clients.

WM: What stage of development are you in at the moment? How are you being funded?

SR: Compared to other startups we have developed the company without any venture capital. We believe that with expertise, dedication and a strong execution a great product can be successful without extensive external funding. Our business model is successful and the product scales by now. For a continuous growth we have to increase our client base within our home region (DACH) as well as abroad. Technologically speaking a highly complex platform like Splicky is always a work in progress: after the release is before the next release! The market is evolving quickly so it is crucial for us to identify market developments promptly and make the right decisions regarding our product roadmap.

WM: What is the financial concept behind Splicky and how do you plan on making money?

SR: Without VC funding you need to make money at all times. In general, our model is based on fees for the usage of our ad technology and our additional management services. We also try to engage in long-term partnerships as with Swiss Out-of-Home Media specialist APG/SGA or with Ad Agencies that can offer our technology as additional service to their clients covering the whole mobile marketing field with increasing requests for location-based services.

WM: How did you come up with the idea for Splicky?

SR: We realized that the market is moving into the direction of data-driven, programmatic media buying at an early stage of the development. The progress in real-time-bidding technology made it evident, that this part of the marketing segment was about to take off. In addition to that, the mobile market is growing rapidly with marketing budgets shifting more and more towards this channel. The general idea of a DSP was not new, but we were the first to build one specifically for mobile campaigns in Germany. Even internationally we were among the first to publish a self-service mobile DSP that – by the way – is not reserved for clients with five digit monthly minimum spendings.

WM: And what were you doing before then?

SR: Before starting Splicky I was already working in the online marketing business for several years. I started my career at Jamba in Berlin, worked for the Telekom subsidiary Interactive Media before engaging with PubliGroupe, developing the company’s core strategy on Real-time Advertising. I came back to Berlin for the founding of PubliGroupe’s ad trading desk, Spree7, and finally started my own business, the Jaduda GmbH. Together with our partner Sponsormob we then launched our common project, the Mobile DSP „Splicky“.

WM: And finally, why Berlin?

SR: All founders lived here at the time we started the company. It’s a great city to live in, located in the heart of Europe, and very attractive for international people. When you look at it from a cost perspective it is still competitive compared to other locations in Western Europe. Additionally, many mobile companies have been build here in the last years and established a very fertile and inspiring network. Last but not least, we will have a great airport sooner or later… [joking]